NFA holds tender for 75,000-metric tons rice

MANILA, Philippines - In what traders believe was merely a price setting exercise, the National Food Authority (NFA), resumed yesterday its public tender for 75,000 metric tons of rice.

Thai rice trader Thai Hua Ltd. outbid its Vietnamese rival Vinafoods in the NFA’s first public rice tender this year with a best effort bid of $486.28 per metric ton for at least 15,000 metric tons of rice to arrive in August to September this year.

Vinafoods offered a best effort bid of P504.50 for 75,000 metric tons.

A total of 11 trading firms participated in yesterday’s NFA rice tender with one Thai firm, Chaiyaporn Rice and Foods, pulling out at the start of the tender and another, Ameropa A.G. being disqualified.

Aside from Thai Hua and Vinafoods yesterday’s bidders were Capital Cereals, Toepfer International, LG International, Asia Golden Rice, Louis Dreyfuss, Olam International and Daewoo International.

Bids ranged from a high of $528 per MT to a low of $486.28 per MT with total volume offered exceeding 300,000 MT.

Awarding of the tender results will be known next week.

Rice traders who participated in yesterday rice tender said the volume offered is considered small and appears to indicate that the government is merely trying to gauge market prices.

Rice traders are doubtful if the NFA will conduct succeeding tenders especially since it had already secured 1.5 million metric tons earlier in a negotiated government-to-government deal with Vietnam, while another 200,000 MT has been approved for importation by the private sector.

Thus, with the 75,000 MT secured yesterday, the NFA has already 1.775 million MT out of the 2.4 million MT it plans to import for this year, leaving only about 625,000 MT for possible importation.

Rice traders believe the NFA will resort to another government to government deal to secure the remaining amount of rice it may have to import this year, depending on the wet season harvest.